Essay On Mental Illness In High School

“Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors” (Mayo Clinic). Many people ask, “What causes Mental Illness?” Researchers have concluded that it must be a combination of a few things. The combination of environmental, psychological, genetic and biological factors effect whether or not you may have a mental illness throughout your life. You can be walking down the street and have no idea how many people around you are suffering from some form of mental illness. Surprisingly mental illness is just as debilitating as any other disease. It is very

hard for people to feel compassion for people with mental health issues. There is a stigma attached to this illness and a fear of how to “deal” with someone who is ill. When someone sees someone who has cancer or an illness that is physical they are more likely to sympathize and show compassion for that person over someone who is battling with something that cannot see or understand.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death in ages ten through twenty-four. “50% of adults will suffer from some form mental illness at some point in their life. 90% of those who died by suicide had an underlying mental illness that may not have been diagnosed” (NAMI). When someone in the family is diagnosed with some form of mental illness it takes a toll on the entire family. The patient is in great need of emotional support. The more emotional support they have from the ones around them the more likely it is for them to successfully deal with their mental illness. They will not fear getting treatment by going to therapy and taking medication. One of the top three mental health illnesses is depression. Some other common disorders are bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia. There are over two hundred other mental health disorders and all are just as debilitating as the most common disorders. Each requires treatment of some kind.
When someone who is suffering from a mental health illness and has no support system it is very unlikely for them to go and get help. They may not be aware of what is open to them and aren’t aware that there are places they can go to for help. They fear their insurance may not cover the cost of the doctor visits and medication that they may need. They fear what the medication will do to them if they take it. They tend to think they can just “get over it” because there is no one there to guide them through this difficult time in their lives. Many people suffer in silence because they are afraid of what their family, friends, and co-workers will think of them. They are concerned it will affect their relationships and that people will look at them differently and judge them for not being able to deal with what is bothering them.
Adolescents in high school are ones to suffer in silence the most.

They are afraid of how their friends will react and don’t want their friends to think of them as strange and different. “Approximately 50% of students age 14 and older with a mental illness drop out of high school” (NAMI). With those adolescents not getting high school diplomas it makes it even harder for them to get jobs later on and be productive members of society. 30% of college students report that they were “feeling depressed to the point where it negatively impacted their ability to function. Approximately 7.5 percent of college students also reported earlier this year that they seriously considered suicide in the last 12 months” (Holmes). These statistics are very alarming and a major concern for society. The students of today are to become the productive workers of tomorrow and it is necessary for them to be mentally and physical healthy.
“The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) reports that there is a “definite connection between mental illness and the use of addictive substances” and that mental health disorder patients are responsible for the consumption of 38% of alcohol, 44% of cocaine, 40% of cigarettes” (Dual Diagnosis). The mentally ill patient attempts to deal with their mental health underlying issue by masking the pain with these substances. People feel as if marijuana will numb the pain of depression, drinking will lessen social anxiety, and cocaine will help you get things

done.
When people suffer with mental health issues it may be difficult for them to be productive at their job. They may have a hard time getting up in the morning, they may work slower than usual and they may make more mistakes than usual. This can lead to their termination of their position, which will increase societies burden of paying for their unemployment and welfare.
Some forms of mental illness require hospitalization and intense long-term therapy. Society limits the amount of treatment available for some people and as a result they are left to fend on their own with no real support system. “MHPAEA does NOT require large group health plans or health insurance issuers to cover MH/SUD benefits” (CMS). They may become homeless, or harm themselves or others. “Serious mental illness costs America 193.2 billion in lost earning every year” (NAMI).
Depression crept into my life at 15 years old. Depression has really become a part of my life that I try to forget, but it just follows me. It brought much stress to my whole family. I started to talk to a therapist every week for six months when that wasn’t working she advised me to go to a psychiatrist to get medication. For the first year and a half I tried eleven medications to find the perfect combination and dosage. The side effects would always vary. There were medications I took that made me; gain 10 pounds in one week, scream and cry over nothing, and some just made me feel numb where I had no emotions at all.
Not only has this affected my relationship with my family and I but also my friends and I. I have had friends tell me they feel as if they are walking on eggshells when they are around me. That has made me feel very isolated and has made me lose many of my friends who I was close with for years.
At multiple points over the time I had suicidal ideation where another drugs was added. My mom would never leave me alone. Every time I was home she would always be walking behind me. She would always make sure I was okay.
I have been through so much in my life, making me realize whom I really am. I realize that my family has always been with me at my side. Finding my way through all of these hardships has made me understand that I do deserve to be on this earth. My family has shown to me that I am strong, confident, caring, thoughtful, and resilient. These are the reasons why I survived; some people are not this lucky. Those people don’t have the support system necessary and society loses them.
To this day I am still being treated for depression and anxiety. I have to go to the psychiatrist every 3 weeks to check up on my medication and get new prescriptions. My mom has never missed an appointment and I am so grateful for that. Every single day I thank God for my family being by my side during this terrible time and I tell them constantly how thankful I am for them.
I am not the only person who is dealing with this. When researching this I found out “One in four adults−approximately 61.5 million Americans−experiences mental illness in a given year. Approximately 60 percent of adults and almost one-half of youth ages 8 to 15 with a mental illness received no mental health services in the previous year” (NAMI). These people also forgo to treat any type of medical treatment and as a result they die on average 25 years earlier from conditions that were curable if they had been addressed earlier.
I found it very interesting that on a map I saw while researching, Florida and Texas were two of ten states that have the least amount of people with mental illness. I have read from many resources that the warmer the location someone lives in the less likely they are to have a mental illness. This impacts the well being of individuals within societies because if they are to live in a colder environment it is more likely for them to be depressed and surrounded by depressed people and if they are to live in a warmed environment it is more likely for them to not be depresses and not surrounded by depressed people.